It is generally inferred that go reached Korea from China by one of two
routes. The earliest possible - broadly in the time of Confucius - would
be if it was brought, along with many other aspects of Chinese culture
in the migration led by Qizi (Kija in Korean). Qizi had a reputation as
a wise man, and he led a huge tribe of followers to avoid fighting
raging in China. They settled in the Taedong Basin and called themselves
the Han.

The other route was about 109 BC when the Chinese invaded and
established the separate colonies. It is clear that in either case the
impact on the local tribes must have been tremendous. Chinese culture
became well established. There is, however, no proof that go was part of
the migratory baggage. The case for inferring that it was rests largely
the earliest actual reference to go in the History of the Three Kingdoms
and related books which record the wars between Koguryo, Paekche and
Silla who eventually merged to create modern Korea.

It is an incidental reference only. Koryon, the king of Koguryo
in the north, had designs on Paekche in the centre. A priest in Koguryo
called To-lim, who was reputed to be a champion of go, volunteered to
act as an agent provocateur. He knew that the king of Paekche, Yogyong,
loved go. Koryon therefore pretended to accuse To-lim of a serious
crime. To-lim fled and sought sanctuary with Yogyong. Their shared
interest in go made this a formality, especially when To-lim proved in a
practice game to be a great master.

In time To-lim became a trusted servanto of Yogyong. He was soon
offering advice in other areas, and urged Yogyong to spend valuable
resources on dykes and other civil works. When this advice was followed,
he next urged the king to build sumptuous palaces. Once he was satisfied
that Paekche had spent its way into trouble, To-lim found a way to
escape back to Koguryo. There he was able not just to report to Koryon
that Paekche was bankrupt, but also to pinpoint the weakpoints of the
various works he had helped build.

Koryon, who lived to 98 and so is better known by his epithet
the "Long Life King", invaded Paekche in what is now Seoul and was able
to wrap up victory easily, killing the Paekche king into the bargain.
This event is dated 475 AD.

The next reference is not until a famous poem dated 737 in Silla
in the south, and the first physical evidence within Korea itself is a
stone board dated about 880 at Hae-in Temple (but the go sets still in
the Imperial Repository in Nara, Japan, are believed to be of Korean
origin and are much earlier). The stone board is famous because the
great scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-weon supposedly played on it.